Being an entrepreneur is all about ‘doing’, as well as thinking and saying. A successful entrepreneur will certainly do all three.

Oliver West did exactly that , the founder of Minglur.com a conference call service that offers next generation features and free gifts to its users got off his bum and put his thoughts and ideas into practice and never turned back.

According to Oliver, “starting your own business from an idea you have is a truly rewarding experience and certainly the best business move i have made but its also been the longest hours and hardest slog”. This is a common sentiment shared by any successful business owner out there, don’t think that a good idea is enough to make you a millionaire, it takes perseverance, determination, ability, luck and also the ability to ride through the bad times.

Minglur has gone from being a small tech startup from Brighton (read the Mashable article on Minglur or the Guardian article) into an industry disrupting conference call service. They are making waves in the scene because they are offering something different to all their competition, whilst their service is similar to that of others nobody else offers a reward scheme.

Unless you have a truly unique idea that is not easily replicated then you need to have some way of differentiating yourself from the crowd. That is exactly what Minglur have done by rewarding their customers with gifts after they use the service.

We asked Oliver what advice he would give to anyone wishing to start their own business.

“There are obviously quite a few key points to a successful business but most come back to the same point – people. It doesn’t matter if you are a single person business you will want to bring other people on board at some point so it makes sense to start with that in mind.

Plan – be sure your business plan discusses growth and how you will achieve it with the current resources, if extra resource is required then how will you find these people, how much can you afford to pay them and what will their roles and responsibilities be – don’t underestimate this task. Finding staff is easy, finding the ‘right’ staff can be a painfully long and stressful process.

Be nice – what goes around definitely comes around, you will certainly need help along the way and if you’ve been nice to people and helped others out then they are much more likely to help you when it’s needed. I’m not saying you should be false or give flowers and chocolates regularly but making a small effort often pays off later down the line.

Be prepared to fail – before you hit that idea that works you will try some ideas that will fail. You will learn more from these failures than you will from an instant success, as long as you take these learnings within you into your next project you are progressing.

Be weary of trends – just because something is trendy it doesn’t mean you should adopt it. So often people follow the crowd when often its not the right route for them or their business. Think about what that ‘social media platform / advertising medium / imagery / product feature’ does for you or more importantly – your customer, if it provides no real benefit then ignore the trend and focus your efforts on something your user will benefit from.

Be prepared for lots of work and a little amount of play – starting, and running, your own business takes time, lots of it. If you have a family ensure they are aware of the potential time you will be stuck to your laptop or phone. You will need plenty of support through the process and the majority of this should come from those closest to you.”

If you want to make a success of an idea you have then pay close attention to the finer points in this article. Get off your bum and get ‘doing’.

Note: Minglur’s free conference call service allows it users to have group conversations, each member pays for their own call directly to their phone provider, Minglur do not charge you to use their service.

Becoming you own boss is truly a rewarding experience. You can take charge of your life and become successful out of your own effort. However, it is hard to start from scratch. You may not even know when to start. Never worry; young entrepreneurs had their fair share of clueless efforts before they became successful in their own business. If you want to start a business and do not know where and what to do, this is the article you should read further.

Determine Your Business

You should determine the type of business you want to run. You have all the time to explore and all the effort to research on things. In order to efficiently determine your business, start by knowing your lifestyle, social preferences and interests. It is more fun to run a business according to your own passion rather than starting one out of the need for it. Ask yourself the things that will perk up your energy as you go along with the business. Remember that your business can be your lifetime source of income so you better take full interest of it or else it will be doomed to fail.

Business Planning

Know the basics of business planning. If you have a business degree, this may be an easy task for you. However, if you are clueless of what business planning is, this is the perfect time to surround yourself with all the pertinent information. Business planning involves gaining the right perspective in starting your own business. It involves determining who will be your target market, what your business is all about, how to promote it and how your business will run according to its own mission and vision.

Never get too overwhelmed as the whole process is simple. First, you need to establish your business in terms of identifying what your product is all about. Determine the pros of your product over the competitors, then identify your advantage over others. This will give you a better idea on how your business will run, especially on marketing and promotions. As you go along the research of your product, identify who will be your target market. Will it be the young people or older adults? This can be done by means of several methods including surveys, giving out samples and many more.

Building a Network

A business runs through different methods of networking. Build your network by means of marketing it – either by conventional means or through online methods. Online marketing is the cheapest and easiest way to gather customers or to promote your products. You can also do the conventional way of advertising by giving out samples, offering discounts and many more. You can also build a network by getting sales people who can earn money by retailing your products. Remember that your business has an impact to the society. Much more if it becomes successful that it begins to have an impact worldwide.

Your first step to business success actually starts within you. Your attitude, willpower and conviction to become successful are greater than all three steps combined. These three steps will ensure of you being your own boss but it is through your effort to make it successful.

This is a documentary about young web entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Europe. In it you will find interviews with the founders of Vimeo, Soundcloud, Kiip, InDinero, Dropbox, Foodspotting and many others who talk about how they started their company and their lives as an entrepreneur.

Make Your Mark is a website dedicated to helping young people start their own business venture and work for themselves. We want to encourage more people aged 16 – 24 to get out there and make their mark in the business world.

On this site you will find advice, hints and tips, ideas and information to help you on your way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. So if you feel like you have the drive needed to step out from the employer shadow and shine on your own, then have a look at this site and get inspired.